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Orcish Horde
The Orcish Horde is Located to the West of The Empire, rivaling it in size, composed mostly of Orcs, Drow, Hobgoblins, Goblins, and Ogres, as well as the newly introduced Catfolk. They live mostly in mountains and none are more skilled at living and fighting in the snow as they. As a matter of fact, no nation is as good at war as them. Founding The Orcish Horde wasn't always so big, in fact it didn't used to be a horde at all. The Orcs lived in tribes and were in a never ending war with each other. War has always been tradition in the Orc's lives. Eventually one tribe began asserting dominance and began defeating tribes one by one. After each was defeated, the warriors would be killed, the women taken into the fold almost entirely by force, and the children indoctrinated. In this way this tribe was able to conquer tribe after tribe, while growing in number. In time the tribe became so great that others would come and join it. These tribes had their women forfeit, and their children taken from them, and their men put on the front lines, because the Orcs viewed these Orcs as cowardly, wanting to surrender instead of being conquered. In this way eventually all the Orc tribes were enveloped into this one tribe. They then turned their attention to the surrounding races, enveloping them into the tribe. The rapid expansion of the Horde became a concern to the civilized nations of the world, and especially those near the Horde's lands. Government The Orcish Horde is led by a leader known as the War Chief. The War Chief is always an Orc, and is always male. The War Chief's rule is absolute, and his word is law. He remains War Chief as long as he maintains his strength, with a successor only coming to topple the War Chief, usually due to his age. Life in the Horde From a young age all they know is war. Children are children of the Horde more than of their parents. They are raised to be soldiers, loyal to the Horde, strong and self-disciplined. It begins in infancy. When a baby is born, soldiers come to the house and examine it carefully to determine its strength.The baby is bathed in wine rather than water, to see its reaction. If a baby was weak, the Orcs expose it on the hillside or take it away to become a slave (helot). Infanticide may be common in some cultures, but the Orcish Horde is particularly picky about their children. It was not just a matter of the family, the Horde decided the fate of the child. Nurses had the primary care of the baby and did not coddle it. Soldiers take the boys from their mothers at age 7, house them in a dormitory with other boys and train them as soldiers. The mother's softening influence is considered detrimental to a boy's education. The boys endure harsh physical discipline and deprivation to make them strong. They march without shoes and go without food. They learn to fight, endure pain and survive through their wits. The older boys willingly participate in beating the younger boys to toughen them. Self-denial, simplicity, the warrior code, and loyalty to the Horde governs their lives. At the age of 20 or so, they have to pass a rigorous test to graduate and become full citizens. Only the soldiers receive the aristocratic citizenship. If they fail their tests they can not become citizens, but instead become perioeci, the middle class. So to some extent class is based on merit rather than birth. If the young men pass, they continue to live in the barracks and train as soldiers but are required to marry to produce new young Spartans. The Horde gives them a piece of land which is farmed by slaves and which they do nothing to tend. The income provide for their support so they can remain full-time soldiers. At the age of 30 they are allowed to live with their families, but continue to train until the age of 60 when they retire from military service. Girls also are removed from the home at 7 and are sent to school. Here they learn wrestling, gymnastics, were taught to fight, and endure other physical training. The Horde believes that strong mothers produced strong children. Young women even compete at athletic events. If they passed their citizen tests, they are assigned a husband. Because this did not happen until they are 18-20, they are more emotionally mature when they marry and are closer to the age of their husbands. Men and women do not live together, but meet occasionally for procreation. Women enjoy much greater freedom and independence in the Horde than in other nations. Because mothers have little responsibility for the care of their children, they are not as tied to the home as most other nations' women are. They are allowed to walk abroad in the city and transact their own affairs. They own their own property, and their husbands are only a minor part of their lives, and except in matters relating to the military are generally their own masters. War with The Empire As the Orcish Horde began expanding more and more many nations took notice. The Empire, being the closest became very concerned. With little debate Arcturus preemptively declared war in an attempt to maximize on the Horde's divided attention, as they were expanding on multiple fronts at once. The Empire underestimated the fighting capabilities of the Horde and their blitzkrieg warfare failed rather miserably. With the surprise gone, the Horde turned many of it's resources towards The Empire front. After several years the Horde has reduced the number of fronts they are waging war on, and with each front closed came another conquered race included into the Horde, and thus more and more varied troops to send at The Empire. This helps the Horde immensely as every time The Empire learns to fight against the Horde's tactics, new races and tactics are introduced. Though The Empire has advantages of their own, namely the Giants Valerian gained for his armies (see Kingdom of the Giants for more info.), and the Undead Dragon Riders. Some say that without the Riders the war would have been lost long ago. Under Valerian Clockwork armies have been used against the Horde. At first this swung the tides of the war greatly in favor of The Empire, as missions which would result in catastrophic losses, but strategic gains, could now be undertaken. But the Horde knows only war from a young age, and they were not to be defeated so easily. The Horde was put in the defensive, and were slowly being pushed back into their territory, and continued to do so under Duke. With Duke's addition of a wider variety of Clockwork soldiers, it was expected that the war would end in victory for The Empire within his lifetime, with minimal loss of Imperial lives due to the Clockworks. Fall of Korhal Induction of Catfolk Catfolks in the Military Lonko Kikmongwi Onotio Handler Expansion __NOEDITSECTION__ Category:Nation Category:Place Category:T1 Category:Pre-Season